A computer system may have an input device, such as a mouse, to receive input and also a display to output information. The mouse may be used on a flat, two-dimensional surface, and the movements performed on it may be replicated to the display in the form of a cursor moving on a two-dimensional plane. In effect, the two-dimensional plane mimics the surface that the mouse is on and the cursor mimics the current position of the mouse on the surface. The visual feedback of the cursor on the display may include an image, such as the image of an arrow. The action of manipulating the mouse, such as pressing a button or scrolling a wheel, may cause the mouse to provide input commands to the computer system in correlation with the current cursor position. The computer system may display which commands are acceptable by way of a GUI displayed on the display.
While a mouse is one type of tactile input device, other tactile input devices may also be used to provide input to the computer system, such as a touchpad, trackball, pointing stick, or touchscreen. Each of these tactile input devices require some kind of physical interaction, e.g., that the user physically touch the input device. However, there are scenarios where physical interaction with the input device may be difficult or impossible, such as an industrial environment, where workers use protective equipment that may hinder the physical interaction with a computer system or, in a healthcare facility, where medical doctors and assistants cannot touch unsterilized objects.